The county's share of the 2019 tax bills property owners will receive early next month amounts to 4.18 cents for every $1,000 of a property's equalized value, according to the budget adopted this week by the Door County Board of Supervisors – an increase of 6 cents per thousand.

The county board approved the 2019 budget on a vote of 20 to 0, with Supervisor Dave Enigl absent.

Based on the total equalized value of all properties, the total tax levy for all purposes was set at nearly $29.9 million, about $98,000 less than Wisconsin's levy limits would allow for next year's expenses, said Door County Administrator Ken Pabich at Tuesday's board meeting.

The levy represents a bit more than a third of the county's 2019 budget. State and federal cost sharing and county operations that generate income provide the rest of the approximately $79 million spending plan.

Pabich said 36 percent of the budget is spent for public safety operations, including the Door County Sheriff's Department and the Emergency Services ambulance operations. Human Services takes around 15 percent, he said, with capital projects consuming another roughly 15 percent.

With an estimated 350 employees on the payroll, wages represent $30.7 million for next year — an increase of $100,000 from this year.

The increase was not larger because long-term employees are retiring and being replaced by workers earning entry-level salaries. The concern, Pabich said, was the loss of the experience older workers are taking away when they leave.

One last-minute change in the budget proposal approved Monday by a pair of county board committees was an increase in the compensation of a psychiatrist for the county's Human Services Department. Pabich said the county has been working with a consulting firm in an attempt to recruit a doctor for the vacant position.

The consultants indicated the proposed $200,000 wouldn't be adequate to attract a doctor. The mid-point in a salary range of $203,000 to $287,000 would fall in the $250,000 range, Pabich said.

The Human Services Department has been notified of a one-time federal reimbursement that amounted to about $59,000 more than anticipated, and that reimbursement would cover the higher salary for a psychiatrist, Pabich said.